Rattle bones rattle bones, leave grandma in the ground! She was miserable living, I won’t stand her around!

An itch in the teeth says father, a taste on the air says mother. A song on the wind says sister, a smell of the iron says brother. A light in the distance says I! Oh what sort of spell do we spy?

Be kind to each other for young fires run hot; be kind to each other for young snows are cold. Be kind to each other for young bolts are bright. Be kind to each other for death should come old.

Conjure coins for market, receive irons instead! Conjure bread for bellies, starve until you’re dead! Conjure rock for hearthstone, and watch it turn to sand. For nothing made by conjuring lasts longer than by hand!

Hedge-mage shouts and the wicks alight, grand mage shouts and the trees ignite. Hedge-mage cries and his tears draw blood, grand mage weeps and the rivers flood. Hedge-mage laughs and the room turns gay, grand mage laughs and they hold a parade! But both see the other, and wish they could trade.

Oh child born blue, what’s happened to you? You’ve woken again, with secrets too! A crown, a rune, a coin, a flute. These are the gifts the spirits gave you.

There once was a man from Hanshu, who was struck dead by a shoe! When he arose the next day, half his soul he did pay, then was struck by the other shoe, too!

Oh conjure a hammer, but conjure not nails, conjure not wood nor canvas for sails. Conjure your saws, your wheel, your spindle, but conjure not yarn or be branded a swindle.

Laugh a flame, cry a flame, fear a flame, hate a flame, sing a flame, shout a flame, dance a flame, clap a flame, stare a flame, dream a flame, but with all your flame, ensure it is tame.

Heart is the spark and the will is the tinder; keep your heart strong and keep your mind limber. Beware of the music, the book, and the rhyme, beware of the whiskey, the ale, and the wine.

Oh my cat can’t work magic, and it’s a good thing! Or he’d catch every bird and ne’er they’d sing.
Oh my dog can’t work magic, and that’s a relief! Or he’d open the cookpot and steal all the beef!
Oh the bull can’t work magic, and so we are blessed, else he’d snort when he’s angry and blow down the fence!
Oh the fish can’t work magic, and we say our thanks, else they’d flip all the boats and wash us to the banks!

Saints may they guide us, and spirits may gift us, and may the monsters rest easy and the fallen stay dead. Runes and prayers preserve us, knights and guardsmen protect us, to lords, saints, and stars may we bow down our heads.

***

Excerpt: Fundamentals of Metaphysical Calculation, 9th Edition.

Every soul has the most basic command of magic, and carries the divine right of it in their hearts. Every beast in creation is denied. While monsters may arise and roam, and carry terrible magic of their own, some are simple beasts whose natures are misunderstood. The venom of a serpent is not magic; nor the bite of a wolf, or the sting of a bee. Many actions of the natural world that we observe carry no spark of magic, no detectable flow or weave.

Not every person born to this earth possesses magic; though those that do not are rare and terrible indeed, immune as they are to the workings arcane. Or worse yet, those who are actively disruptive to magic by their very existence. Even so, we see no such presence of ordinary beasts who express such resistance or disruption. We can therefore logically deduce that those immune or disruptive to magic are expressing their innate arcane nature.

The capabilities of magic and intelligence are the quantified criteria we use to define a species as soul-bearing, monstrous, or beast. Soul-bearing creatures express both intelligence and the emotional capacity for the expression of the arcane.

We define monstrous creatures as those capable of expressing magic, but exhibiting no intelligence or focused will in the application and shaping of their raw flows. Beasts are creatures that express neither meaningful intelligence nor magic.

It is a frequent misunderstanding of the common hedge-mage that magical ability is determined by bloodline. Quantifiable measurements find that at birth, the differences involved in infant elemental-magical response fluctuate less than five percent from baseline.

Individual strengths in particular elements, flows, or flavors of magic all stem from upbringing. Children receiving parental attention and approval for expressing the arcane in familiar, approved ways, reinforce the emotions that fuel the magic.

These measurements have proven true across all known soul-bearing species. Cultural norms and expectations may shape the predilection of a species towards particular applications, such as dwarves and earth-based magics. But there is no innate bloodline aspect that makes any species more naturally proficient in that element than another species.

Thus, it is nurture, and not nature, that dictates innate facility with particular magics.

This effect is compounded by the social, psychological, and economic pressures to gather magic into schools. While these schools and labels can provide a convenient path for learning, or drive magical industry forward, the wise mage will do well to avoid over-specialization. The arcane can manifest in permutations limited only by our imagination and capacity to focus emotion through will.

Nullers and Negators are special cases, and measuring their arcane capacity is rendered difficult or impossible by their nature. Nullers are expected in approximately one in every 10,000 births. Negators are expected in approximately one in 20,000 births. Some monstrous creatures exhibit Nuller or Negator effects. No known Beasts do.

A Nuller is defined as a member of a soul-bearing species that has no meaningful interaction with the arcane. Adjustments to mass, energy, and the introduction of conjured mass all fail, passing through the Nuller as if they did not exist.

No known magic can directly affect a Nuller. Known spirits cannot interact with nor perceive them directly. Wards and runes do not detect the passing of a Nuller. A fireball cast towards them will pass harmlessly through, though secondary interactions with clothing, armor, and other worn objects will be noted.

Conjured mass will likewise pass through the Nuller without any measurable physical interaction. Secondary physical effects, such as a (non-Conjured) boulder levitated by arcane means, and subsequently dropped on their head, will not be affected.

Negators disrupt the functioning of magic and the arcane within a spherical radius of their body. Documented ranges for this effect extend as little as two inches, to an extreme of one hundred and fifty metres. The mean average radius documented is just shy of four metres.

Negators actively annul the working of the arcane within this radius; spells and flows cease to exist. Runes fail to function as long as they remain within the active Negator’s radius.

Spirits can perceive a Negator, but will flee or refuse to interact with the radius of negation. Ghasts and other arcane entities are wounded or destroyed if they interact with the area of influence. They will likewise flee the approaching ‘event horizon’ of influence of a negator if possible.

No known limit of capacity exists for these individuals. Teferi’s experiments on Negators have documented testing that exhausts the limits of practical investigation. Most notably, one test on the famous Negator criminal Denzel Montegarde documented the absorption of the focused flows of one hundred and thirty seven practiced mages casting simultaneously. No measurable effect on the subject was noted.

***

Excerpt: Astride The Veil – Fourth Edition, written by Lumas DiRadole

Foreword, by Anilas Teferi:

In a lifetime of the pursuit of the arcane and physical laws that govern our existence, no field of study has proven as vexing to me, or as intriguing, as the spiritual realm. Since the dawn of history, the interactions of the soul-bearing with the spiritual realm and its denizens has shaped and molded the narratives of lives and nations.

Even in our modern era of scientific rigor applied to arcane workings, exciting questions remain unanswered, and some tantalizingly suggest they may be unanswerable. A deplorable state if true, but a bold and irresistible challenge all the same to the arcane scientist.

There is surprisingly little we can quantify when we discuss spirit-walkers and the realms beyond death. This book represents the best of our quantifiable facts about the practice of Spirit Walking, and those blessed and cursed by their gifts. Rest assured, dear reader, that what is yet unknown would fill many more volumes.

And many more volumes are filled! The practice of the Spirit-Walker and their notations of their work and experiences fill many volumes, but none are truly comprehensible to those who have not paid the terrible price and stand astride the veil between life and death. The tomes and volumes written by Walkers, for Walkers, read more akin to poetry and dreams.

We know too that the very concept of language is foreign to the spirits. They communicate, as near as we may understand, purely in metaphors and impressions.

Even so, a learned student may mimic a spirit walker’s strange tongue exactly, parroting them perfectly, and will still remain incomprehensible to the spirits until they have paid the price of their lives and returned to this realm. It is not merely language that is alien to the spirits, but living. Not until the living die, and are fortunate (or cursed) enough to pact as an ambassador and servant between the veil, can the spirit walker speak to a spirit and be understood.

The cost is assuredly terrible. We can quantify the soul; the average human soul weighs approximately twenty-one grams. The soul of a spirit walker weighs approximately eleven grams. Slightly less than half of their soul is paid for the privilege to return. A high individual cost, but a generous boon to society at large.

From spirit walkers, we can confirm that reincarnation is a fact; that souls emerge into reality at the moment of conception, and they exist both to fuel the arcane and bring the memories of lives lived to the realms beyond the veil at the time of their passing. We know that these memories form the basis of an economy of sorts; wherein the trading of memories and their barter function much the same as currency in the material realm.

For the spirit walker, the cost of living again is felt in that lessening of their soul. The emotions of a spirit walker are seldom impassioned, and their passions seldom inflamed. Consequently, their capacity to work the arcane independently suffers greatly.

Of course, the counterpoint of having a Spirit to lend its strength and magnify the arcane works of their mortal counterpart provides a powerful advantage. Because of this, spirit walkers are in high demand in any military application; their tireless arcane workings and devastating power lending themselves well to the battlefield and the needs of the state.

The final cost of the life of a spirit walker is the loss of agency. Just as the Spirit must serve the one who summons it, so too the spirit-walker serves the spirits. They co-exist symbiotically, although not all partnerships are equal. Most spirits with experience in pacting mortals tend to dominate their partners with their own agenda.

These agendas are almost always primal in concept, simple and straightforward in their goals. One spirit may wish fires tended; another, trees planted. Still another spirit might endorse and encourage all acts of revenge, and yet others make extraordinary demands of filial piety to family and crown.

Just as the spirit-walker is tasked with the ambassadorship between spirits and mortal, so too are they tasked with the proper conducting of souls to the realms spiritual. Not all souls transmigrate through the veil independently, or quickly. Thus, it falls uniquely to the abilities of those who live astride the veil to conduct souls from this material world to the arcane places beyond.

The mechanism by which this is accomplished is unique to each spirit-walker; no flows of magic are necessarily involved. Yet it is they alone who can guide the dead to their rest.

Unsurprisingly, the emotions that accompany dying are often very powerful. These emotions can provide sufficient raw arcane force to sustain the manifestation of the dead for some time. Without the gentle conducting of a spirit-walker, a ghast may linger for years, or even centuries, before moving on.

In matters of faith and existence after death, spirit-walkers assure us unanimously that reincarnation is as factual a law of existence as gravity. We know from their consistent reports that the dead pass on to the realm of the spirits, and it is their memories that function as sustenance and currency. Before returning to the realm of the material, souls must expend, lose, or safely deposit their memories of past lives. Thus they return to the material world an empty vessel, ready to be refilled with the memories of a life anew. Some spirit-walkers are fortunate enough to partner with spirits that hold their memories of past lives; and it is from them we see deep insights into our own history and its context.

But in the end, the understanding of the existence of a spirit-walker requires much more than science, and far more than language alone can convey. In the pages to follow, you will read extraordinary and artful tales that exist as much as poetry and prose as they do rigorous scientific observation. My deep gratitude is extended to my spirit-walking colleague, Lumas DiRadole, and his attendant spirit Occipitale, for their ambassadorship and scholarly rigor.

– Anilas Teferi

***

Excerpt: Standards of Metaphysical Measurement, Field Edition

Arcane units are standardized to the value 1 Cantrip per 660 joules when expressed energetically, or as a mass of conjured water weighing 2809 kilograms sustained for 1 second.

A Thaum is considered to be the idealized maximum average of a master-rank mage’s output while in a normal emotional and mental state, per second.

Therefore:

TH = 660,000 J
TH = 2809000 CM kg/sec

Standardized Examples:

1. Teferi’s Fireball is idealized as a sphere 6 metres in radius, containing dry air at standard sea-level atmospheric pressure and room temperature, raised spontaneously to a relative temperature of +1000 Kelvin. This represents an expenditure of 660,000 Joules.

2. Teferi’s Stationary Ball of Ice is idealized as a sphere of conjured ice 9 metres in radius, massing 2809000 kilograms, sustained for one second.

3. An master imperial warmage is expected to be able to simultaneously accelerate 330 standard rounds of ammunition (four grams, lead), to a velocity of one kilometer per second. (This would be impossible sequentially due to the reaction times required, but the energetic output would not change.) The acceleration of 4 grams of lead to the speed of 1 kilometer per second represents an energy expenditure of 2000 Joules. No change in acceleration energy is noted between conjured mass and ordinary mass.

4. Teferi’s Speck is idealized as one stationary grain of extremely fine sand created permanently through the concentration of energy into permanent mass. The resting state energy of this matter is presumed to be approximately 660,000 Joules. (No method to reverse the conversion of ordinary mass to energy has yet been engineered, although some theorists contend it is possible.)

** (Few spirits will cooperate with quantified testing of their own Thaum levels. Based on scientific observations and measurements of Spirit activity, it is estimated that the true output levels across three standard deviations is closer to 6-58 Thaum). Note that this figure represents a Spirit being called by only one Spirit-Walker; those Spirits who are cooperatively pacted and called across multiple Walkers enjoy additive Thaum magnitude.

***

Excerpt: The Synesthetic Detective, 2nd Edition

The primary senses a person will use to perceive magic develop in infancy. However, experiments and clinical history have proven that the sensory regions of the brain devoted to the perception of arcane flows are malleable and adaptive. Research has established that the sensory centers of the brain devoted to the perception of magic are independent of their respective organs.

For example, a Scryer struck blind by damage to the eyes can still ‘see’ the flows of magic. However, a Scryer who loses the ability to process vision due to a brain injury will suffer in their capacity to recognize and understand flows of magic.

Happily, other sensory systems in the brain adapt over time to respond to injuries like these. The median recovery time for this type of injury is approximately seven years, for a transition to a new primary sense. In this way, a Scryer struck neurologically blind can eventually return to active magical practice, the brain having gradually adjusted the perception of flows to other senses.

A Detective wishing to excel in their field would do best to cultivate an acquired synesthesia for the detection of magic. Just as different tinctures of paints have different smells, or different food have different tactile textures, the perception of magic in the mind does not occur in a vacuum.

No individual is truly mono-sensory. But most of those without formal training would consider themselves to be, as they engage the world of the arcane out of instinct instead of conscious training. Exercises for the development of synesthetic detection of magical and mundane effects are included later in this book.

For now, we turn our attentions to the common categories of sensory detection and evocation of magic. It is important to note that the perception of magic and the evocation of it are not strongly correlated. There is only a weak statistical link (>+10% baseline) between the perception of magic by a primary sense, and its evocation via that sense. In short, there is no guarantee that someone who sees magic will cast magic by sight.

The designation of Sensory or Evocative delineates the disparity between how an individual perceives arcane works, and how they evoke them.

The categories within Sensory or Evocative are as numerous as the stars, but the seven most commonly applied in arcane sciences are: Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Olfactory, Gustatory, Cognitive, and Emotive. There are many notable sub-categories that will only covered in later chapters, such as Chronological, Channeler, Spirit-Walkers, and Logicians.

Finally, the notations of Temporal-Bound versus Non-Temporal-Bound indicate whether or not the mage can detect or evoke magic beyond the ‘now’. The majority of the population (>80%) are Temporal-Bound, although there is evidence to support that as the mage ages, there is a gradual drift of population towards Non-Temporal-Bound detection and evocation.

Here is a list of common methods of magical detection and perception. Note that many others exist, but these represent the common and orthodox profiles that will represent the vast majority of the suspects and witnesses that a Detective will encounter.

Sensory, Visual, Temporal-Bound: (“Scryer”). [SVbT] The most statistically common method of arcane perception, Scryers represent approximately 18% of the general population of humans, 24% of Elves, and 16% for Dwarves. Scryers perceive arcane flows visually, whether or not there is a component of an arcane working that is ordinarily visible to the naked eye. Scryers are capable of rapid perception and analysis of spells, but are generally limited to line-of-sight. Half of all Scryers report being able to perceive arcane flows with their eyes closed or blindfolded, perceiving the flows most commonly as lines or smears of coloured light.

Sensory, Visual, Non-Temporal-Bound: (“Spelltracker”). [SVnT] Relatively uncommon, the Spelltracker represents a temporally unbound perception method often found in career Detectives. Like a Scryer, the Spelltracker senses spells visually, but does not readily perceive them temporally, instead seeing where flows have passed. The name “Spelltracker” refers to the descriptions of these Detectives, who liken the evidence or arcane workings as being akin to wildlife tracks of a hunter; the evidence they perceive may be fresh or old, but not current.

Evocative, Visual, Temporal: (“Gorgon”). [EVbT] A modestly common method of evocation, a visual evoker directs flows by line of sight, focusing sustained eye contact with the target of the arcane working. Gorgons are capable of reasonably fast, long-range evocation, but rely on unbroken line-of-sight and consistent lighting conditions to maintain their arcane focus.

Evocative, Visual, Non-Temporal-Bound: (“Spellpainter”). [EVnT] Another modestly common method of evocation, Spellpainters evoke arcane workings through visual representation. This can be as common as a painted rune or a love letter, or visual patterns expressed through techniques as rudimentary as simple shadow puppetry. Conversely, the techniques employed can be as complex as firework displays, as famously demonstrated by the assassination of the third Emperor of Hanshu.

Sensory, Auditory, Temporal-Bound: (“Auditor”). [SAbT] Almost as common as a Scryer, the Auditor perceive arcane flows through auditory perception. Flows are often described as sounds, music, or voices. Auditor enjoy omnidirectional detection, although their precision in determining the direction of origin of a spell may suffer.

Sensory, Auditory, Non-Temporal-Bound: (“Oracles”). [SAnT] Oracles perceive arcane works as auditory phenomenon, but without the temporal immediacy of Auditors. As Spelltrackers are to Scryers, so Oracles to Auditors. Many report their perception of past arcane works as whispered voices, telling a fractured tale. Others hear arcane works as babbling voices, birdsong, or other auditory phenomenon.

Evocative, Auditory, Temporal-Bound: (“Spellsingers”). [EAbT] Spellsingers evoke arcane works through the use of auditory expression. This is the most common evocation method of schooled mages, primarily as a result of standardization of arcane education methods. This is due to the use of spoken words and incantations as a rote form of practice becoming habit. This evocation form is so common, in fact, that the use of the spoken word as a means of arcane evocation is synonymous culturally with “mage”, while the term “Spellsinger” is often formally used for those who rely on song or musical instruments for evocation.

Evocative, Auditory, Non-Temporal-Bound: (“Prophets”). [EAnT] Prophets perform their evocation of magic via auditory expression, but are noted for their capacity to express their magic beyond the immediate moment. Arcane works can include spoken prophecy that can serve as stationary or mobile equivalent to a rune, acting as a conditional or time-delayed arcane working.

Sensory, Tactile, Temporal-Bound: (“Feelers”) [STbT] sense magic through tactile sensation. These sensations may also be interpreted as vestibular (shifts of balance), or thermoreceptive (temperature), nociceptive (itching or pain), or proprioceptive (perception of body positioning and size).

Sensory, Tactile, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Dowser”) [STnT] As Feelers, but are capable of feeling where magic has been in the past.

Evocative, Tactile, Temporal-Bound: (“Spelldancers”) [ETbT] evoke magic through physical action. This may include evocation through gestures, dancing, or martial arts forms. In common practice, many formally schooled mages are taught and trained to evoke magic through a combination of verbal and physical evocation, allowing for standardized training methodologies. Many modern martial arts forms train to evoke magic through patterns of motion.

Evocative, Tactile, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Spellweaver”) [ETnT] often evoke magic identically to Spelldancers, but are in the general practice typically adept at curses, hexes, and other non-temporal effects. A common runesmith may fall into this category, if they focus their magic through the physical act of crafting the rune, as many do.

Sensory, Olfactory, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Spellhound”) [SOnT] perceive arcane works as aromas and odours. Notably, it does not appear that any olfactory sensors are temporally bound, likely owing to the non-temporal nature of olfaction as a sense.

Evocative, Olfactory, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Miasmer”) [EOnT] evoke magic through the use of aromas and scents, often through the use of chemicals and odorant ingredients as a focusing point. It is theorized that this expression of evocation is applied in the same fashion as many runes, but that the arcane work is divided across the entire volume of the odorant prepared, instead of on a solid physical object or marking. Like Spellhounds, the arcane works of a Miasmer are not temporally bound, and may linger as long as the odorant does in the environment. A common school of Witchery will frequently train formal evocation through a combination of auditory and olfactory evocation.

Sensory, Gustatory, Temporal-Bound and Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Spelleater”) [SGbT]/[SGnT] sense magic through their sense of taste. Relatively uncommon in the general population, enough so that the appellation of “Spelleater” is often applied regardless of the temporal distinction of their sensory abilities.

Evocative, Gustatory, Temporal-Bound: (“Spellspitter”) [EGbT] evoke magic through the use of tastes, often combining these with a Tactile evocation element. Relatively uncommon.

Evocative, Gustatory, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Alchemist”) [EGnT] evoke magic through the use of taste, often using ingredients as a focal method for the evocation of magic. Much like a Miasmer, their evocation of magic is not bound temporally once imbued into a physical form. Potions and philtres can function for centuries after their initial creation. Formally schooled Alchemists often combine their magic with pharmaceutical studies, ensuring that both magic and medicine are employed concurrently for maximum benefit of the patient or client.

Sensory, Cognitive, Temporal-Bound: (“Psychic”) [SCbT] sense magic as a direct cognitive process, without the intermediary of the central or peripheral nervous system interpretation centres of the brain. In the case of the Psychic, they simply become subconsciously or consciously aware of arcane works around them. Experiments by Teferi’s College have established that some Psychics detect arcane works at a fixed spherical radius, and others detect arcane evocations by a radius based on intensity of evocation, modified by a distance-squared decay.

Sensory, Cognitive, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Mediums”) [SCnT] enjoy the same detection methods as Psychics, but without the bounds of temporal immediacy. Just as Spelltrackers, Oracles, Dowsers, and Spellhounds, Mediums are simply aware of where the flows of magic have been, or where arcane works have transpired.

Evocative, Cognitive, Temporal-Bound: (“Demiurge”) [ECbT] evoke arcane works as a conscious, cognitive process, often described as “simply thinking magic into existence”. Their arcane works require unbroken focus and concentration to sustain.

Evocative, Cognitive, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Logician”) [ECnT] evoke arcane works as a conscious, cognitive process, but do so in a fashion that meets conditional triggering. A typical Logician will often employ the use of mathematical processes, such as the use of intricate geometry and calculation, to evoke arcane works. Very often this is used in concert with sound scientific and mathematical rigor for sympathetic effect. Many building architects are Logicians, combining sound engineering design with arcane evocation to provide the best fit for a client’s mundane and magical needs.

Sensory, Emotive, Temporal-Bound: (“Empath”) [SEmbT] perceive arcane works as changes in their own emotional and psychological state. Consequently, Empaths are often sympathetic casters of magic, as their perception of magic provides adequate impetus to fuel their own arcane workings.

Sensory, Emotive, Not-Temporal-Bound: (“Dreamreader”) [SEmnT] perceive arcane works similarly to an Empath, but can perceive the past presence of arcane works and flows evoked. Notably, this capacity most commonly expresses itself in sleep, hence the common cultural appellation, Dreamreader.

Evocative, Emotive, Temporal-Bound: (“Siren”) [EEmbT] evoke arcane works through raw emotion, providing the most primal expression and evocation of magic known. Almost all infants and very young children would be classified as a Siren, prior to the cognitive development of consciousness and thought-modelling that renders the conscious shaping of magical flows possible. Functioning adult Sirens often find employment in the performing arts, weaving arcane works alongside acting or performance skills.

Evocative, Emotive, not-Temporal-Bound: (“Dreamer”) [EEmnT] evoke arcane works emotively, beyond the bounds of temporality. Notable for being a frequent violator of causality, Dreamers may unconsciously influence past or future events. Teferi’s College experiments in paradox generation have established that while paradox is a self-cancelling and annealing feature of time, some retrocausal communication of information is possible.

This world will last until someone gets hold of advanced particle physics. Then, the thought train that ends the world is:

So every particle has a matching antiparticle…
And that means there is “anti-matter” just like normal matter but opposite in charge…
I wonder if it just as easy to conjure up…
Better start with something temporary and standardized, just to compare…

“Teferi’s Stationary Ball of Ice is idealized as a sphere of conjured ice 9 metres in radius, massing 2809000 kilograms, sustained for one second.”

That ought to do it…

Considerably less than one second later, the world ends. The shock-wave doesn’t finish killing the whole world until a few minutes (?) later but the kill is certain as soon as 2809000 kilograms of anti-ice shows up. When the particles then vanish, they destabilize the newly-created reaction products, which then further react to stabilize, meaning the actual yield is likely higher than “simple” matter-anti-matter reactions.

I had this idea previously in a game world I conceived where you could create “projections” of existing matter that would collapse if not maintained by energy expenditure. And you could create multiple projections from a single piece of matter. Then, you wait for a cosmic ray to make an anti-particle that you could trap, e.g. antiproton in a fullerene cage, and viola, world ending made simple.

And as far as game breakers, what happens when someone figures out reverse Teferi’s Speck, i.e. mass–>magic? Everyone who can cast it becomes an uber-mage, that is, if they don’t kill themselves from overload. That makes teleportation look like a stable technology, and combining the two…

One of the reasons why we the readers are still around to read is that mass–>energy reactions and non-locality are extremely difficult to do in our world.

Keith and I actually had a similar debate about this for Interstitials 7 and 8, regarding the tile that Sienna uses on her mission. Initially I’d written out the idea as it using an uncontrolled teleportation to cause localized fusion, but that opened so many cans of worms that we ended up rewriting the idea into a highly charged fire+air bomb.

The good news about your anti-ice scenario is that conjured mass has many orders of magnitude less rest energy than ordinary matter, and the low density involved means that you probably wouldn’t get that dramatic a reaction. The rest state energy of Teferi’s Ball of Ice is no different than Teferi’s Speck; one is Conjured Matter, one is actual matter. Figuring out the actual energetic release of perfectly superimposing one Teferi’s Speck with one theoretical Teferi’s anti-Speck (with perfect efficiency) results in a really simple equation: 660,000J X 2.

Now, absolutely nobody is going to sneeze at 1.3 megajoules happening locally to them, but this isn’t going to be more than a house-wrecker at worst.

Rest assured early accidents with the Guild’s use of teleportation magic have resulted in FAR worse outcomes. One more good reason for the governments and nations of the world to allow their enforced monopoly*. (*: Realpolitik applies.)

The other issue we (happily) run into is that fusion, magical or otherwise, requires a pretty considerable energy barrier, and that energy barrier to start the fusion presumably has to come from the magic caster’s Thaum output. Hardly insurmountable, but it also puts practical limitations on some applications.

Regarding the reversal of Teferi’s Speck, with a mass-to-magic(energy) conversion: The bad news is, in this universe, a few people have actually figured that one out. The good news is, so far, they’ve all died. Nobody’s figured out radiation yet, and that’s probably a few centuries down the line. (Which is a good thing, because come the day warmages figure out X-rays, a lot of their nation’s enemies are going to die…)

No, I’ve not read HPMOR, but I’d tread gently on Rowling and most fantasy universes. For many writers, keeping magic magical can be a real challenge, and I’d argue that for most of them, picking on the physics is missing the point of the exercise in storytelling.

In my case though, go for it! I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to bind my system (more or less) to physical constraints. But like any writer, if I have to bend rules to tell the best possible story, I’ll do that. So far I’ve kept everything in the lines, though.

Insofar as fast, reliable, low-energy kills go, I think it’s going to be hard to beat conjuration of mass directly into someone’s brain. Whether mundane or by magic, a bullet in the brain’s a pretty damn reliable kill. X-Rays seem to be the current reigning champ for energy efficiency for a slow kill, though.